You STILL Can't Play With Fate
by Mizame
Summary: After Neji's five - year abscence, he comes back to find that tenten is seeing another man. Can he get her love back after his betrayal? /NejixTenten Sequel to "You Can't Play With Fate"


**Discalimer**: -Insert Witty Denial of Ownership here-

**Mizame:** Now, if you are about to read this, and have not read "You Can't Play With Fate", please do so. Thanks. Okay, so, here it is. It's a Sequel to "You Can't Play With Fate". I hope you all like it, and Reviews are valued and taken to heart.

**You **_**Still**_** Can't Play With Fate – Mizame**

**Chapter I: **_**A Stained Heart**_

Neji took a huge gulp of air as he strode into Konoha's awaiting gates. The guards bowed at him and let him through without any trouble. Neji grunted and stepped into the glorious city that had raised him. The Jounin looked around at all of the new things that seemed to have sprouted with his five year absence. People who seemed to have gotten so much older than he remembered smiled at him. They all greeted him back into his home.

Of course they would. He was a war hero now. He'd accepted the mission that Lady Tsunade had offered him and journeyed to Sunagakure, leaving everything behind in the stead of his duties. His heart lurched for the millionth time he thought about it. He'd left everything behind, which included the love of his life; Tenten.

She was everything he'd ever wanted, and one of the very few things he'd ever cared about. She had been his partner, his friend, his teammate, and later, his lover. When Lady Tsunade had offered him the mission, Neji was just beginning to find his identity, his life. He was confused about who he was, and where his place in life was. In short, he was only seventeen.

So he took the mission, trying to drown himself in the duty of his country. He was only trying to block out the pain of his career, the loss of his father, and the hate of his family. Against everything Tenten had urged him to do, he'd taken the mission. He'd betrayed Tenten.

Tenten. She had been in his guiding light up until that point, and he'd always listened to what she had to say. She hadn't been one of those crazed fangirls, nor had she ever been one to be ditzy. She had been strong, confident and independent. Every day he had been in Suna, Neji had looked back on his decision and known he should have stayed. He should have stayed with Tenten and grown happy with her.

But he didn't, and now, he knew they'd both suffered. Neji shook his pessimistic thoughts away and tried to clear his mind – but no avail. Memories of the night he left flooded before his eyes.

_It was dark. The sun had yet to work its way over the distant mountains to the east, and Neji walked along the path to the gates of Konoha. He was leaving. He felt heavy, but that was probably due to the heavy pack he had slung over his shoulder. He would be gone for five years – possibly more. Before he could get out of the place that had made him a caged bird, he heard rushed footsteps behind him. _

_Tenten landed on the ground behind him and was now stalking toward him angrily. Her eyes were clouded and stormy. She was livid at him, but he did not need his byakugan to know that she was hurt more than angry. She grabbed his arm and softened her expression._

"_Why?" She asked. Her voice was husky, and Neji realized with a start that she must have been crying. He stiffened, but steeled his heart. He had to do this. There was no backing out now._

"_It is my duty to my country." He replied mechanically. Tenten's eyes narrowed, and her softened expression disappeared, it was replaced my rage. She seized his wrists and squeezed them. It was painful, but he did not react. He knew the pattern in Tenten's attitude. She finally stopped squeezing his wrists and looked down. _

"_Damn it Neji." She muttered. He could see a glistening drop of liquid escape Tenten's eyes, and his jaw dropped. She was __**crying**__. _

_Neji certainly knew that people – even Tenten cried, but he never expected her to cry in front of him before. He was shocked, but his stubborn resolve would not let him give up this mission. Nonetheless, he swallowed hard and gathered his love into his chest. She embraced him tightly and cried into his shoulder. He could feel the heavy, hot, wet drops that were her tears seeping through his shirt and onto his skin._

_Staining his heart._

"_Tenten…" He murmured, trying to soothe her tears. She cried harder, her name in his mouth bringing more tears to her eyes. She clutched at his shirt._

"_Please don't leave." She asked of him. Neji's resolve was cracking, but he gulped and forced himself to say:_

"_You know I have to." He felt like a complete *baka, but he knew that if he showed any weakness, he'd crack and give up. Tenten continued to cry uncharacteristically. _

"_Please. Don't go." She was __**begging**__ him now. She had no strength left to order it. Neji knew that this was so unlike her, that she was definitely splintering under the weight of stress for this magnitude of emotion to have been shown. Neji realized that the only y he was going to get out of this damned village and keep his resolve was to lie to her._

"_You know I don't want to." He lied. He felt like a traitor, but he also felt it was the only way she'd let him go. Tenten went rigid and she hissed as she detected to lie. Neji sighed heavily and put his arms around her. She pushed his away and balled her hands into fists. He knew that to anyone else, the stance she was taking would be lethal. Her pose was deadly, but her eyes were pleading and desperate._

"_You will be out of your element there." She warned, scrambling for excuses for him to stay. It was feeble, but Neji admired her effort._

"_I will cope, Tenten." He said, still trying to keep himself together. This was becoming very difficult for him to walk away from. He loved her, and he knew it. He could scarcely believe he was allowing his ultimate stubbornness get in the way of tat, but he just needed to find himself._

"_You will let this love die?" She asked. Right now, her nindo was dissolved, and he could see the fragile girl inside a shell that he had never met before. She was blatantly baring her emotions, and Neji was not used to it. Nonetheless, he soldiered on._

"_You know that will not happen. I love you, and if this love is what we think it is, it can resume when I get back." He said. It was cliché, but he was using it. Tenten's eyes smoldered and she stomped her foot childishly, muttering something along the lines of 'arrogant prick'._

"_What if I'm not here when you get back?" She demanded. Neji almost smiled at her threat. He decided to put up the barrier he used with everyone else. _

"_But you will be." He said. He turned his back, using a tremendous amount of willpower. "Goodbye, my love." He said._

"_I'm not letting you go." He just barely heard her mutter. He turned back, ready to give up and come home with her, but she was gone._

Neji cast his lavender eyes downward and blinked a couple of times. His mind was wandering. Shaking his head angrily, he marched up to a bridge overlooking a river. There was a couple standing there, enjoying the view, but he ignored them and turned his back. He looked down into the water and just wished he had never caused Tenten so much pain.

"Neji?!" His head snapped up as he heard a voice. No, not just any voice, _the_ voice. It was her. He turned around and saw her, standing there, looking at him with incredulity. Neji's face must have mirrored hers, and his hungry eyes followed every line of her curvy frame, the slope of her neck, the hourglass of her body, and the defined, toned muscle of her arms. He followed her left arm's curve… right into another man's arm.

The couple on the bridge was Tenten and this man.

**~Owari**

**____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________**

_***Baka**: (BAH-Kah) - Idiot - [Japanese]_

**A/N: **I wrote this on a request from the lovely, Supportive, **Cueil**. Basically, it is a continuation from "You Can't Play With Fate" Only, Tenten has not died. Since I wrote "YCPWF"so long ago, I've actually been planning on writing this continuation for nearly a year. Ehh, I'm lazy, I know, but hey! I wrote it. Plus, it's new for you peoplez. ;P

Anywho, Please, please, PLEASE leave a review. They are like crack for a loser like myself. Seriously,I take them to heart. Also! If there are any of you geniuses out there who are willing to help me out, I still have not worked out all of the kinks of the plots. Any reccomendations, questions, comments, suggestions,or a collaboration of them all are welcome to my eager arms.

~Mizame


End file.
